Suffer the little ones to hold still and shut up

The report into clerical abuse in Dublin archdiocese reveals the “reprehensible behaviour” of the Catholic hierarchy…The report finds the Catholic hierarchy and state authorities failed to respond to allegations of clerical child abuse made against a sample of 46 priests…”The Dublin archdiocese behaved in a manner that was absolutely reprehensible. Over the space of 20 years, they moved the problem on, looked after their own financial interests, looked after their priests and not the victims. The archdiocese is centre-stage. Once you read it, it jumps out at you,” a source said.

The Dublin archdiocese, then, protected its own people, who were all grown men, and by doing so perpetuated harm to children. Offhand, that does not sound conspicuously compassionate. The priests doubtless needed compassion, but first of all they needed to be stopped. They did not need compassion in the form of being allowed to go on abusing children, and the children certainly did not need compassion-for-priests in that form.

14 Responses to “Suffer the little ones to hold still and shut up”

Adults charged with taking care of children in any other situation would be facing prison time over something like this. Only religion could create a situation where an adult harms a child and all the effort is expended towards protecting the adult, all the while insisting how righteous and holy they are, and how hurtful it is to them when you criticize their religion.

Why would it lead to the end of the Catholic Church in Ireland? I doubt that anyone there is surprised by these findings. It has been an open secret for decades that this is what has been happening. Remember there average Irish person has little contact with the hierarchy who prevented these prosecutions. I think its expecting too much for them to associated the entire church with the actions of a few high up members (I think this is the way they will see it). What will change the attitudes is the death of the older generation – the demographic who are so opposed to contraception, divorce, abortion etc, and whose attitudes are very different to those of the younger generation.

I tend to make use of these sorts of report findings whenever religious people claim the goodness of Christians is demonstrated by their willingness to forgive sins (the usual example is a Christian family member ‘forgiving’ a convicted murderer).

I say yes, the Catholic Church shows the value of forgiveness by forgiving priests who have abused children and by moving them to a new parish rather than not forgiving them and prosecuting them according to the law of the land.

I think my generation (early 40s) and below have a healthy skepticism of the church. Older Irish people, I’m afraid, are too far in to extract themselves at this stage. As they die off (both the members of religious orders and the older religious members of the lay population) there will be a shift towards secularism but I think the change will be gradual rather than a sudden move, precipitated by these sorts of scandals.

Yes, there was one infamous bishop who threatened to rape a young journalist when she went to investigate child abuse in the Ferns diocese. She had touched on a raw nerve when she put some direct questions to him concerning typical church cover-up matters.

Miriam O’ Callaghan presenter of ‘Prime-Time’ is presently interviewing Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Marie Collins – who was abused by a priest as a child, as she lay in her hospital bed, Mary Raftery, and Marie Keenan, psychotherapist for offending priests about the child abuse report. It was stated that the higher -ups in the church, who were learned men, some even experts in both canon and civil law, feigned ignorance when it came to sexual abuse of children in their care. Mary Raftery asked DM why the pope never corresponded to two letters which were sent to him by concerned persons. His Lordship replied that he never discussed the matter with the pope as he did not want to interfere with the workings of the commission.

Archbishop McQuad, who during his reign in the past, ignored children who were abused in Industrial schools – has been implicated for something or other in this report. The male victims and survivors of the gulags, especially, have been shouting out about him for a long time, and this is good news to know that their voices have not gone on deaf ears. I am curious to know if there is an organization out there seeking his canonization!

There could be a band of stalwarts of the kind Sigmund talked about – of which I know of only too well, waiting in the Vatican wings for him to become a saint.

“When the story of her abuse appeared in newspapers, her parish priest told parishioners at Mass not to believe what they read in the press; they should read the Catholic paper instead. Ms Collins was among the congregation.”

So utterly typical!

There is full coverage of the Murphy Report in the Irish Times. One can also access the actual report.

I’ve just been ranting to Claire about the fact that the perpetrators called the victims liars. I can’t get over that. They not only covered it all up, knowing perfectly well what they were doing – that’s part of the report, that all this nonsense about not understanding child abuse was bullshit, they did understand – they also accused the victims of their crimes ‘liars.’ This is the holy church.

And the Vatican wouldn’t even talk to the commission – it simply whined about going through diplomatic channels, and then ignored the commission.

I’ve just been ranting to Claire about the fact that the perpetrators called the victims liars. I can’t get over that. They not only covered it all up, knowing perfectly well what they were doing – that’s part of the report, that all this nonsense about not understanding child abuse was bullshit, they did understand – they also accused the victims of their crimes ‘liars.’ This is the holy church.

And the Vatican wouldn’t even talk to the commission – it simply whined about going through diplomatic channels, and then ignored the commission.

Its the end of a very long fight, and the end of a very very long road – so says heading of article in the Irish Times on the Dublin Diocese clerical sex abuse scandal. Well, that might be so, from a Dublin perspective – but what about the rest of the country – aside from Ferns?

Marie Collins was the subject of an RTÉ documentary, Lawyers for the archdiocese tried to stop it, saying she was lying and threatened to sue if it was broadcast. In the end, it was broadcast.

Nell Caffrey a well known Irish Feminist/journalist, who hails originally from the North’s Bogside has been very vocal in the media these last couple of days, vis a vis the report. She said the princes of the church should get rid of their silly unearned titles, such as ‘father’ as, she states quite emphatically, who are they to carry the name when they were far from being fatherly to those who were placed in their care. Nell is not shy about telling the religious a few home truths. She was not too enamoured, either, about the title ‘your grace’ or your highness. I expect she would also not be too keen on their fancy attire!

“I say yes, the Catholic Church shows the value of forgiveness by forgiving priests who have abused children and by moving them to a new parish rather than not forgiving them and prosecuting them according to the law of the land”

Precisely, this has always been the case, Sigmund.

There was one case I heard on the radio today about a priest who was sent to a convent in Co Wicklow; and the nuns there were not cognizant of the past paedophiliac status of their guest. I would surmise, the nuns treated him to the best china and cooking and fawned all over him; as they are wont to with clerics in general.

It is a simple fact that RCC priests are, and have always been, the most outrageous liars in the history of the planet.

Their historical power has enabled them to commit the most obscene atrocities, with an iron-clad guarantee of immunity.

It is only through the efforts of the so-called “new atheists” who, like the esteemed Ophelia, refuse to just shut-up and not rock the boat, but who call these genocidal criminal bastards for what they are:

Yeah, you can be sure there are plenty of people out there who would not like to rock the religious boat. They will go on for forever and a day about religion – but will never dare to give their opinions on both child institutional abuse or clerical child sexual abuse at the hands of religious. Being nice and accommodating towards the religious at all times is presumably their motto.